The History of
the Courts of Chaos

Of the time before Swayvill, there is little to add to the established
histories, and the time of his reign, though fraught with change, also
does not bear comment here...save the passing context of the Savior of
Chaos, he whom we know as the Father of the Spider who Spun the Logrus,
known to the those of Amber as Prince Shaenan.

Early in Patternfall, Benedict lay with a Hellmaid by the name of
Lintra, and from her line came Dara Helgram, who would be mother to our
Savior. She bore two sons by a rogue Prince of Amber, a man of great
potential but little wisdom. She named her sons Merlin and Shaenan, and
in augury it was revealed to her that one would rule in Chaos and one
would be a disgrace to her. Mistakenly, she believed Merlin to be the
favored one, and so she had Shaenan cast off into Shadow to find his own
truths.

There he remained until he reached adulthood, near the conclusion of
the Patternfall War.

In the Courts, times had become difficult. Emperor Swayvill was old
and ailing, burdened by his failure to conquer Amber and by the death
curse of Eric. Many of the Noble Houses had succumbed to despondency and
had taken to worshipping icons of the 'royal' family of Amber, turning
their eyes from the Serpent that had nourished and strengthened them for
eons.

Sand had taken the throne in Amber, and Lucier Sawall was appointed
Ambassador to Amber. A devious man, Lucier was sent to ascertain their
weaknesses and to learn of a new threat that had destroyed Clitus Sawall,
another son of Dara by Gramble Sawall. A new organization calling itself
the Sufferers' Guild had arisen, and it had slain one member of House
Sawall and made an attempt on the life of Merlin as well. Though those in
Amber claimed that the organization had also targeted their own people,
many in Chaos believed it to be a ruse, for it was known that the
Amberites resented Dara's 'stealing' the blood of Amber and spreading it
throughout Chaos.

Lucier's first act was to retrieve Dara's lost son, whom she feared
might also be threatened by this Guild, and she was not mistaken. Lucier
was able to rescue Shaenan from a mad daughter of Oberon's who called
herself Mirelle, a member of that nefarious guild. Her presence only
confirmed our beliefs that the Amberites were behind this, and so upon
returning Shaenan to his mother, Lucier resolved to investigate the matter
further, aided by his adopted sister, who is now nameless in our
histories.

It was only much later that we learned that this sister was the true
face behind the manifold plots against our people...for she, too, was of
the corrupt brood of Amber.

Eventually, Shaenan, too, journeyed to Amber, and our information of
what transpired in Amber over the time of Sand's reign is sketchy at best.
We know that Shaenan was rejected by Corwin at his confirmation ceremony
in Amber, and that this same ceremony became a blood bath when the
Sufferers' Guild chose to attack. We know that he encountered the
creature known as Leviticus, who would one day become his ally. And we
know that Lucier was driven mad and attempted to assassinate the heir to
the throne of Amber, Princess Emma.

At the same time, many changes occurred in the Courts. Gramble, Head
of House Sawall, died...and passed his title onto Shaenan. Soon after,
Swayvill died and Despil assumed the throne of Chaos with Mandor and
Dara's backing. Merlin had long since disgraced himself in his mother's
eyes and had fled with an exiled member of House Hendrake, a woman by the
name of Gilva.

The cast-off remnants of House Barimen took charge of Lucier and
brought him into protective custody in Tir-na Nog'th. In his absence, the
adopted daughter of Sawall became the new ambassador to Amber for a time,
but many suspected her of aiding Lucier in his plotting, and so soon she
was replaced by Stead, son of the Emperor.

Queen Sand died, though we were not able to determine precisely what
had transpired, and Princess Emma ascended to the throne. Recognizing
that he would be unwelcome in an Amber ruled by Emma, Shaenan returned to
Chaos and assumed his duties as Head of House with the assistance of his
mother Dara.

Many years of peace passed on both ends of reality.

And then she returned.

Using the vile magics of her abyssal father, she corrupted the
Logrus...this making the strongest of Chaos into her mindless thralls.
Despil and his family fled from Chaos to preserve their lives and she
assumed total control of the Courts of Chaos. At her command, the legions
of Chaos threw themselves against Amber yet again. Every able-bodied man,
woman and demon in Chaos was forced to aid her in her doomed endeavor, and
so were they all destroyed on the opposite end of reality when she failed
in her attempt.

At the conclusion of this battle, which those in Amber have called the
Abyss War, the traitorous Abyss hag was finally destroyed, but in her
death she cursed us all, and the connections between all Shadows were
severed. Our lands became as islands floating in the Abyss.

These were hard times for us, but we rebuilt as best we could. And
over time, the Shadows began to join again, thanks to the efforts of
Leviticus, who had come to reside in Sawallways. Civilization in Chaos
was reduced to a level that it had not known since well before Swayvill
and his three predecessors.

Eighty-four years later, Shaenan emerged from Sawallways and journeyed
to the empty ways of the Logrus...and created from the flesh of his body a
new avatar of Chaos. Thus was born the Spider, whose first act was to
spin the Logrus. Shaenan became an initiate of the new Logrus, and set
about doing what he could to restore the Courts.

Soon the demons returned to our dwellings and resumed their former
duties. Shaenan took temporary lordship of Chaos in Despil's absence, and
through his efforts the major Shadows of Chaos were again joined. The
great Houses were brought back to some semblance of their former glory,
and Shaenan personally helped find those individuals who were best
qualified to lead the great Houses. In time, he was able to restore
Despil to us from his Shadow exile, and thus was Chaos reborn.

These are strange times. Despil has returned to rule, and he is a
changed man. He feels the decimation of Chaos keenly, and wishes to lead
the Courts to a Golden Age of growth and glory. Lord Shaenan has become
our ambassador to Amber, for only he has the power to traverse the dark
reaches of the Abyss, and only he has the cunning and skill to protect us
from the treacherous machinations of the scions of Amber. Throughout
Chaos, our people again have hope. We have our Emperor...our lands...and
our Logrus again.